Saña y codicia como conceptos rectores de la miscelánea castellana del ms. Salamanca, Biblioteca Universitaria, 1877

Abstract

Abstract Salamanca, University Library, MS 1877 (1469–1470) is a miscellany made up of genetically independent works, all in Castilian: the Fuero real by Alfonso X; a translation of the Barlaam et Josaphat; sayings of the desert fathers taken from the Vitae patrum of Pelagius and John; a translation of John of Rupescissa’s Vade mecum in tribulatione; segments of three French Arthurian romances (Libro de Josep Abarimatia, Estoria de Merlín and Lançarote); a short catechism with no known direct source. But it is also miscellaneous because, as usually occurs in these compilations, the collected works belong to different textual genres: code of law; oriental didactic literature; hagiographic and apocalyptic discourses; Arthurian romance; catechetical compendium. Taking materialist philology as a theoretical framework, this article will propose a unitary reading of the manuscript from the hypothesis that among its dissimilar components there are semantic ties that give it a specific coherence and meaning. We will claim that the codex explores a series of exemplary variations destined to reprove the excess of irascible (saña) and concupiscible (codicia) appetites that those who dedicate themselves to active life tend to experience against the virtues of justice and prudence that are essential to access contemplative life.